Joe's all-American Pure Land temple, reiki studio, juice bar and veggie burger emporium

Question: Recently, I had an interesting opportunity presented to me. A cultivator from a local monastery wished me to join him in presenting a series of Pure Land seminars for the general public. I didn't feel equal to the task, but agreed initially. It didn't work. After several conversations, our different approaches proved an insurmountable obstacle. I am from the reliable "don't fix it if it ain't broken" school of thought; preferring an established, proven expression of Dharma practice, such as you and Master Chin Kung present, instead of unnecessary innovation. The other party wanted to extract "pure" Pure Land from the various expressions-Chinese, Japanese, etc.- and use the pith to synthesize a "uniquely American" Pure Land.

While this sentiment seems to resonate with the upaya, or skillful means concept, I was not comfortable with it. Mostly because, historically speaking, Dharma must be present for many generations, even hundreds of years, in a country before authentic cultural assimilation may take place enough to call it a new cultural expression of timeless Dharma principle. I was under the impression that guiding such innovative effort was the province of more experienced, enlightened masters; beings more in touch with profound wisdom than the average practitioner. Is this not so?

I'm content to rely on the fund of knowledge provided by Master Chin Kung and you. As I said, it's tried-and-true. But there is a distinct pressure on cultivators in America these days to re-package Dharma; slapping their own name-brand label on it. I don't oppose the legitimate assimilation of Pure land into American culture slowly and carefully over time in keeping with the Upaya principle. But I do take issue with what seems to be arrogance and unnecessary innovation in place of real Dharma.

 I guess, at the root of it, I just want you to tell me that sticking with Master Chin Kung's Chinese Pure land is ok. That it is sufficient to achieve the goal of rebirth in Sukhavati. And that it's also ok to ignore the pressure I feel from folks who market "Joe's all-American Pure Land temple, reiki studio, juice bar and veggie burger emporium". Thanks for your kind attention and assistance.

Response: Thank you for raising this important issue.

Going first to your root question—Yes!

Sticking to the time-tested methods as taught by Venerable Master Chin Kung and other acknowledged masters of the Pure Land school will show the way to attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land.

And yes again, when Buddhism was introduced to new cultures, it was done so gradually. It literally took centuries before it truly incorporated the local flavor. Those who brought the teachings to new cultures were usually monastics because they knew the teachings, having dedicated their lives to learning them. 

Take China for example. The emperor invited accomplished monks to live in China. This occurred in the year 67. Although the translation effort began fairly soon after this, it took several centuries before two of the major translation teams translated many of the sutras that are read today. Master Kumarajiva (344-413) led a team of over 400 accomplished translators. The team of Master Xuanzang (602–664) had more than 600 translators. So two of the most well-known translation teams took three to six hundred years to translate the teachings. 

The Buddha cautioned that the time we are now living in would be the "Dharma-ending Age." This is a long period of decline with some flourishing of Buddhism. And he spoke of many “deviated teachers.” Deviated does not mean the teachers are without scruples or have bad intentions. Although, unfortunately there will be a certain number of these. “Deviated teachers” means that the teachers will have deviated from the proper teachings. Actually, it is easy to do so.

Today we can read many books. Those looking into Buddhism usually do read a lot as they look around to find the teaching that is right for them. But when they find the right teaching, they don’t let go of what they previously read. They jumble it all together. So they don’t do what the masters of the past suggested—forget everything you have learned and start anew.

When these teachers, who may very well have the best of intentions, teach others, the teachings are jumbled. Or worse, they are the personal opinions of the teachers. But as the ancient masters cautioned, until we attain the level of Arhat we cannot trust our judgment.

So how do we know what is right? 

We look in the sutras, the recorded teachings of the Buddha.

If the Buddha said it, we can rely on that teaching. But for us to know what the Buddha said, (1) the sutras need to be correctly translated and (2) we need to understand what the sutras mean.

So first we need qualified translation teams, i.e. we need accomplished masters and a good number of them to make sure no one is mistranslating what the Buddha said. The masters who translated sutras had attained great accomplishment in virtues, knowledge, and cultivation. They were conversant in all three parts of the Buddhist Canon: Sutra-pitaka, Vinaya-pitaka, and Abhidharma-pitaka. These three parts were called the Tripitaka. 

In the past, translation teams were led by Tripitaka Masters. The title "Tripitaka Master" denoted the translator’s academic background and cultivation. This background was important because the director in charge of the translation of a sutra must have mastered the Tripitaka. Therefore, the translators of the sutras were Tripitaka masters.

Second, we need accomplished masters who can understand and explain the profound meanings in the sutras. Over the centuries, many great masters have written commentaries on the sutras to explain their meaning to practitioners who had not yet mastered the teachings or achieved in their own personal cultivation. Monastics have the time to spend years studying the sutras and their commentaries.

Why is this so important?

Because newcomers and practitioners want to understand and thus ask many questions!

If the person answering the questions has not studied extensively, he or she runs the very serious risk of unintentionally giving a wrong answer. The karmic consequence for this is very serious. Understanding the seriousness of misleading people, monastics and those who have access to their teacher and fellow students can find the answer to questions they are not sure of.

As an example, I wanted to verify something I was writing in this entry so checked with a senior monastic. My understanding was correct, but if it had been wrong I would have had the opportunity to be corrected before passing on the information to you. This safety feature of being able to verify information is vitally important. This is especially so when bringing Buddhism into a new culture where there are few established standard ways to verify the accuracy of what a "teacher" is saying. And this situation is compounded by the avalanche of material we have accessible to us due to the internet, books, etc. How are we to determine what is correct and weed out what is wrong?

Also, it is traditional for masters to give permission for their students to teach others. This provided an important safeguard for the public that is not as common today when we have people trying to speed up the acculturation process.

So we can see that it's not easy to find qualified translators and teachers today.  

Unfortunately, today is the age of the quick fix. We want our dinner, and we want it NOW. We want a pill to make us feel better NOW. We want to have all the trappings of a successful life (new car, fancy house, TV big enough to cover a small wall) and we want them all NOW. We want an important, well-paying job, and we want it NOW. 

We want our own culture's Buddhism, and we want it NOW.

I can certainly understand the latter. I live in a Chinese community, which practices Chinese Buddhism. In Chinese. In other words, I practice in a language, which I understand very little of. I wear clothes the design of which dates back to the Han dynasty in China. I eat in a dining room that serves Chinese food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'd love to see American Buddhism! Or European Buddhism. (Or Canadian, Polish, or Venezuelan Buddhism.)

But it has to take time. It certainly won't happen in my lifetime. Good things cannot be rushed. Good things take time. After all, it took the Buddha a number of eons to become enlightened. (The number of years is a larger number than we even have a word for.)

I know monastics who took their vows and have been dedicating themselves to practice and learning for decades. The more they practice and learn, the more humble they are. And the more they try to practice and learn what the Buddha taught.

I'm not saying there isn't a good temple out there that has a reiki studio, juice bar, and veggie-burger emporium because I don't know everything out there. But personally, I have chosen an established school of practice, which was taught by the Buddha; follow a wise and compassionate master who has been a monk now for over fifty years; and adhere to a time-tested method of practice as taught by the patriarchs and accomplished masters for well over a thousand years.

I'm not saying everyone needs to follow Venerable Master Chin Kung.

He wouldn't say so either.

I am saying that with good fortune, we will each find the method taught by the Buddha that best suits our capabilities and conditions, as well as a qualified, well-practiced teacher. He or she may not look like us, come from the same country, or even speak the same language.

But all things considered, that's okay.

Because when it comes to my spiritual well-being and my karmic footprint, I don't want to be anywhere but on a tried and true path. 

Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra, Excerpt Fifteen

He accumulated and nurtured moral conduct.

He gave no rise to any thoughts of greed, anger, ignorance, or desire.

He was not attached to form, sound, smell, taste, texture, or mind object.

Accumulating merits and virtues should start with “giving no rise to any thoughts of greed, anger, ignorance, or desire” as well as “not being attached to form, sound, smell, taste, texture, or mind object.” When there is no greed, anger, ignorance, desire, or wandering thoughts, and when one does not yield to external temptations—this is merit. If one cultivates this way, one will attain a pure mind, from which wisdom will arise.

When one has meditative concentration and wisdom, one has great benefit. Meditative concentration and wisdom come forth when the true mind is active. As a result, one is able to control one’s destiny anywhere in the universe. When one does not have meditative concentration and wisdom, one is controlled by affliction and temptation. This is pitiable.

Therefore, cultivation is nothing but this: internally, ridding oneself of greed, anger, and ignorance; and externally, cutting off all temptations.

This excerpt teaches us a principle of learning and practice. When we have “thoughts of greed, anger, ignorance, or desire,” our behavior will not be proper and will need reforming. This excerpt is the standard for [differentiating between] proper and deviated.

Master Huineng said, “Originally, there was nothing at all.” He was talking about the true mind because there is nothing in the true mind. Greed, anger, ignorance, and arrogance are the false mind. Because these illusory things are there, even though we have the true mind, it is unable to function. When we eradicate greed, anger, ignorance, and arrogance, our minds will become pure. Even when forms, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and mind objects from the external environment try to tempt us, we will not have any thoughts of greed, anger, ignorance, and arrogance.

The major sutras say “All beings are Buddhas in nature.” So why have we become the way we are? The Avatamsaka Sutra puts it aptly: it is because of wandering thoughts and attachments. Wandering thoughts are ignorance. Attachments turn into greed and anger. These are the root problems of sentient beings.

 ~ Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra by Venerable Master Chin Kung 

Plants are Living Beings Too

(A reader posted a comment on a blog entry and it's a point that I've heard raised before. I thank her for bringing it up and giving me the opportunity to give a response to it.)

Comment: The Buddhist people don't believe in killing animals but you should always remember that plants are also living things.

Response: Yes, plants are living beings too. However, they do not have the levels of self awareness nor the nervous system that animals have. And it takes a lot more grass (corn on factory farms) to make a steak than it does to feed a human. 

The reality is that all animals in the cycle of rebirth have three choices: 1) eat animals, 2) eat plants, 3) don’t eat. 

Our very existence causes suffering to other beings, be the other being an animal or a plant. As vegetarians and vegans—Buddhist or otherwise—we do the best we can given the options we have. We try to cause the least suffering by eating plants and by eating only what we need to in order to stay healthy and by not wasting any food. 

Making this choice is not always easy. The new vegetarian/vegan needs to re-educate him- or herself. This includes reading labels on every food item they are considering. New recipes have to be found and some old favorites abandoned. Family members or friends may not agree with the person’s wish to become vegetarian/vegan. Family members or friends may feel uncomfortable, or even threatened. They may keep challenging or arguing with the vegetarian/vegan, about their decision. Eating away from home can be difficult when food choices for vegetarians, not to mention vegans, are limited and sometimes non-existent. 

Considering that many vegetarians/vegans encounter all the above obstacles (I had the good fortune to have the support of family and friends so did not run up against every obstacle), I’d say their efforts and commitment are admirable and worthy of support. 

People who choose to be vegetarian or vegan are trying to cause the least harm and suffering they can in an imperfect situation. 

It's not that they don't know that plants are also living beings. It’s just that option #3 above is not really a good option.

Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra, Excerpt Fourteen

He dwelt in true wisdom and

courageously made focused and diligent progress.

The Buddha mentioned “true” three times in the Infinite Life Sutra. Here, we have “true wisdom.”

Of all the teachings, one gets to know Buddhism. Moreover, one learns the Pure Land method of Mahayana teachings. Also, one chooses “belief, vow, and Buddha-name chanting” and seeks rebirth in the Western Pure Land, and one’s mind steadfastly dwells in this. Such is “dwelling in true wisdom.”

In practicing the Pure Land method, one follows the principle of “no doubt, no intermingling, and no interruption.” One also diligently learns and practices using the method of “the perfect control of the six senses with continuous pure thoughts” taught by Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva. This is “courageously making focused and diligent progress.”

Everything in this world is illusory. We need to be truly awakened! People often say “We bring nothing with us at birth and we take nothing with us at death.” Only mindfully chanting the Buddha-name and seeking rebirth in the Western Pure Land, where our life span will be as infinite as that of Amitabha Buddha, is real. Without life, everything is futile. This is true wisdom. Nothing is truer than this!

~ Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra by Venerable Master Chin Kung 

Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra, Excerpt Thirteen

Dharmakara heard the Buddha’s discourse and saw everything shown to him. He aspired to make supreme, wondrous vows. He thoroughly contemplated[1] what was good and bad about heavenly and human beings and what was wonderful and inferior about their lands.[2] He single-mindedly selected what he wanted and formed his great vows. For five kalpas, he diligently sought and explored, respectfully and carefully persevered, and cultivated merits and virtues. He thoroughly understood all the merits and adornments of the twenty-one kotis[3] of Buddha Lands as thoroughly as he understood one Buddha Land. The Buddha Land he created surpassed all Buddha Lands.

“Dharmakara heard the Buddha’s discourse.” “Dharmakara” was the Dharma name of Amitabha Buddha at the causal stage, when he was a bhiksu. “Heard” refers to listening to his teacher’s introduction. Here “Buddha” refers to Lokesvararaja Tathagata, Dharmakara Bodhisattva’s teacher.

Dharmakara Bodhisattva told his teacher about his aspirations and asked his teacher to teach him how to fulfill them. When a student has a virtuous and great aspiration, the teacher will always wholeheartedly help the student accomplish it. Therefore, Lokesvararaja Tathagata not only explained to Dharmakara what he wanted to know but also used extraordinary powers to display the Buddha Lands in the ten directions to him, and that allowed him to see them clearly.

At the beginning of the Visualization Sutra, a similar situation is described, which was the cause of Sakyamuni Buddha speaking the sutra. Queen Vaidehi encountered family misfortunes. Her son killed his father the king, harmed her, and usurped the throne. Having encountered such great misfortune, she became disheartened and asked Sakyamuni Buddha if there was a better and safer place where she could be reborn. Instead of directing her to one specific Buddha Land, Sakyamuni Buddha displayed all the Buddha Lands in the ten directions for her to choose from. This was the same method that Lokesvararaja Tathagata employed for Dharmakara Bodhisattva.

Queen Vaidehi chose Amitabha Buddha’s Western Pure Land. And then Sakyamuni Buddha taught her the method to attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. This is essentially the content of the Visualization Sutra.

Lokesvararaja Tathagata displayed all the Buddha Lands in the ten directions to Dharmakara Bodhisattva. After seeing all these, he “aspired to make supreme, wondrous vows. He thoroughly contemplated what was good and bad about their heavenly and human beings and what was wonderful and inferior about the lands.” “Their” refers to all the Buddha Lands in the Ten Directions. In the Six Paths in all Buddha Lands there were good and bad beings. This is talking about the living environment, which involves living beings and situations.

The Land of Ultimate Bliss did not come from Amitabha Buddha’s baseless imagination or dreams. He truly saw many Buddha Lands, and they all differed vastly from one another. Some lands were very wonderful, and others had many shortcomings. “What was wonderful and inferior about those lands” refers to the material environment [which involves inanimate things]. “Inferior” refers to a very bad environment. “Wonderful” refers to a very good and beautiful environment. The environment of every being is different. The causes every being creates are different and result in different effects [environments]. Dharmakara Bodhisattva understood the principles and truths.

 “He thoroughly contemplated. . . . He single-mindedly selected what he wanted and formed his great vows.” How was the Western Pure Land created? Dharmakara Bodhisattva visited various Buddha Lands and adopted their strengths and rejected their shortcomings. In other words, the Land of Ultimate Bliss is an amalgamation of the excellent qualities of all the Buddha Lands.

He saw that all the Buddha Lands in the ten directions had Six Paths, and the suffering was tremendously intense, especially in the Three Evil Paths. Thus he wanted his first vow to be that there would be no Three Evil Paths in the land he would create. This is how this great vow came to be.

The Chinese often say, “Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles.” Listening to lectures on the sutras is like reading books, and seeing all the Buddha Lands is like traveling ten thousand miles. Because he heard with his own ears and saw with his own eyes, Dharmakara Bodhisattva’s knowledge and wisdom were true. He had such abundant knowledge and experience that he was able, by selection, to create his own land. This was how the Land of Ultimate Bliss came about.

The causes and conditions for how the Land of Ultimate Bliss came about were different from those for the other Buddha Lands. The causes and conditions for the latter were complicated and not simple: good ones and bad ones were mixed together. In the Western Pure Land, Dharmakara chose only pure and virtuous dharmas. His purpose was to provide a wonderful learning and practice environment for the beings from all the Buddha Lands in the ten directions who truly generate the great mind and who aspire to [understand and] transcend the cycle of birth and death, and attain Buddhahood in one lifetime. He wanted to provide the best learning and living environment.

“For five kalpas, he diligently sought and explored, respectfully and carefully persevered, and cultivated merits and virtues.”

The words “sought and explored” mean that one needs to clearly recognize and understand the virtuous dharmas and the bad dharmas, and the good and bad retributions. And then one needs to end all wrongdoings and to cultivate all virtues.

The words “respectfully and carefully persevered” mean that one needs to be respectful when interacting with people and engaging in tasks. A respectful mind is the true mind. In addition to being respectful, one needs to carefully persevere, so that one will not lose what one has learned and practiced.

The word “cultivated” means correcting one’s faults and applying one’s learning to life.

“Five kalpas” is the time Dharmakara spent cultivating and forming vows. There are several ways to measure kalpas. “Increasing and decreasing kalpas” is the one that is most often heard of. Sakyamuni Buddha said that in the Saha world, the shortest life span of humans averages about ten years. At this point, the suffering in this Saha world is tremendously intense. Every one hundred years, the life span increases by one year, until the life span reaches eighty-four thousand years. Then subsequently, every one hundred years, the life span decreases by one year until the life span is again down to ten years. One cycle of an increasing and a decreasing life span is a small kalpa. Twenty small kalpas make up one medium kalpa. Four medium kalpas make up one great kalpa. The kalpas mentioned in the Mahayana sutras refer to great kalpas.

Dharmakara Bhiksu spent such a long time cultivating that he was able to truly take in all the strengths of all the Buddha Lands and reject the shortcomings.

“He thoroughly understood all the merits and adornments of the twenty-one kotis of Buddha Lands as thoroughly as he understood one Buddha Land. The Buddha Land he created surpassed all Buddha Lands.”

“Twenty-one” is not an actual number. It represents perfection. For example, in the Amitabha Sutra, the number seven represents perfection. It signifies the four directions, the zenith, the nadir, and center. In the Avatamsaka Sutra, ten is used to represent perfection. Counting from one to ten, ten is a complete and perfect number. Ten tens is one hundred, also a complete number.

Tibetan Buddhism uses sixteen and twenty-one to represent perfection.

“The Buddha Land he created surpassed all Buddha Lands.” “The Buddha Land he created” refers to the Land of Ultimate Bliss that he established. “All Buddha Lands” refers to the twenty-one kotis of Buddha Lands. The Western Pure Land is an amalgamation of the wonderful strengths of all the Buddha Lands. It has all the strengths of the Buddha Lands and is free of all the shortcomings. Naturally, it surpasses all these Buddha Lands and fulfills Dharmakara’s great vows. This sentence from the excerpt is saying that the Land of Ultimate Bliss has been created.

The prerequisite for rebirth in the Western Pure Land is a pure mind. When the mind is pure, the land will be pure. The Buddha taught us to cultivate a pure mind with “belief, vow, and practice.” True belief, sincerely vowing, and single-mindedly chanting “Amituofo” will help us suppress wandering thoughts, discriminations, and attachments. In doing so, we will meet the initial standards for purity and be reborn [in the Pure Land] in the Land Where Sages and Ordinary Beings Dwell Together.

~ Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra by Venerable Master Chin Kung